Friday, November 10, 2017

Only one of the Boys Doubles semi-finals at the 2017 International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Junior Racquetball Championships at the Lifetime Fitness Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota went to three games. That happened in Boys U14, as Mexicans Sebastian Longoria and Erick Trujillo came back from a game down to defeat Bolivians Hector Barrios and Adrian Jaldin, 10-15, 15-12, 11-6.

Bolivia will play the USA pair of Akul Ramayani and Antonio Rojas in the final on Saturday, as the USA beat Josue Bermeo and Pablo Vera of Ecuador, 15-3, 15-12.

Bolivia is also in the Boys U16 final, as Diego Garcia and Gerson Miranda (Bolivia) beat Julian Homberger and Tomas Sanchez of Costa Rica, 15-7, 15-5, in the semi-finals Friday. They will play Mexico in the final, as Sebastian Fernandez and Oscar Nieto of Mexico defeated Juan Sebastian Flores and Esteban de Janon of Ecuador, 15-9, 15-14, in the other semi.

The Boys U18 final will see Mexico and Canada face off. Mexicans Gerardo Franco and Eduardo Portillo defeated Ecuadorans Juan Francisco Cueva and Jorge Ochoa Moreira, 15-2, 15-5, in one semi-final, while Canadians Simon Comeau and Trevor Webb beat Sergio Acuña and Andres Montero of Costa Rica in the other semi, 15-11, 15-11.

In Girls U16 Friday, there were wins by Mexico's Delia Aguilar and Laura Flores, Bolivia's Valeria Centellas and Romina Rivero, and Ecuador's Nathalia Pinero and Ana Lucia Sarmiento on Friday. That sets up a likely silver medal match between Mexico's Aguilar and Flores and the USA's Briana Jacquet and Graciana Wargo, as both teams have a 3-1 record. The Bolivians are undefeated at 4-0, and we think have wrapped up the gold medal. Bolivia does play Ecuador Saturday, but even a loss to Ecuador would put Bolivia on 4-1, which would be the same record as the winner of Mexico-USA, but Bolivia has beaten both those teams, so has the head to head advantage.

The picture in Girls U14 is more complicated, as there are three teams that could finish with 4-1 records: Camila Arnez and Micaela Meneses Cuellar of Bolivia - now 4-0, Sofia Freer and Maricruz Ortiz of Costa Rica at 3-1, and Guadalupe Griffin and Valeria Hernandez of Mexico at 3-1. Bolivia and Mexico play each other on Saturday, and Bolivia win gives them the gold medal. But a Mexico win, and Costa Rica win over Ireland, who are winless so far, would give those three teams 4-1 records, which would mean a tie-breaker rule would come into effect. Earlier this week, Costa Rica beat Mexico in a breaker, and Friday Bolivia beat Costa Rica two straight, so gold will depend on who wins between Bolivia and Mexico and whether the win is in two straight games or needs a tie-breaker.

The 2017 IRF World Juniors concludes Saturday at the Lifetime Fitness Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Check out the IRF Facebook page for live streaming of the event.